Intended for advanced undergraduates and beginning graduates with some basic knowledge of optics and quantum mechanics, this text begins with a review of the relevant results of quantum mechanics, before turning to the electromagnetic interactions involved in slowing and trapping atoms and ions, in both magnetic and optical traps. The concluding chapters discuss a broad range of applications, from atomic clocks and studies of collision processes, to diffraction and interference of atomic beams at optical lattices and Bose-Einstein condensation.
Introduction and review of quantum mechanics: Review of Quantum Mechanics.- The Density Matrix.- Force on Two-Level Atoms.- Multi-Level Atoms.- General Properties Concerning Laser Cooling. Cooling and Trapping: Deceleration of an Atomic Beam.- Optical Molasses.- Cooling Below the Doppler Limit.- The Dipole Force.- Magentic Trapping of Neutral Atoms.- Optical Traps for Neutral Atoms.- Evaporative Cooling. Applications: Newtonian Atom Optics.- Ultra-Cold Collisions.- deBrooglie-Wave Optics.- Optical Lattices.- Bose -Einstein Condensation.- Dark States.